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Cyril of Jerusalem Anders-Christian Jacobsen Cyril of Jerusalem Anders-Christian Jacobsen Cyril of Jerusalem (c. 315–387 CE) was born probably in or near Jerusalem. Only little is known of Cyril’s life before he became bishop in Jerusalem. He began his ecclesiastical career as a deacon in the congregation in Jerusalem sometime between 330 and 335 CE. Around 343 CE, he was appointed a presbyter by Bishop Maximus. And finally, he became bishop in 350 CE (Yarnold, 2000, 3–4; Nuffelen, 2007, 136, argues that Cyril was appointed bishop already in 348 CE). Cyril’s appointment as a bishop was not without complications as can be gathered from a few ancient authors: Rufinus of Aquileia (Hist. 10.24), Jerome (Chron. 348; Vir. ill. 112), Sozomen (Hist. eccl. 4.20), and Socrates Scholasticus (Hist. eccl. 2.38; 2.40; 2.42; 2.45; 4.1; 5.3; 5.8; 7.7). These sources confirm that Cyril followed Maximus as bishop in Jerusalem, although the details are unclear. However, all authors indicate that there had been some kind of conflict about Cyril’s appointment. Jerome, Sozomen, and Socrates claim that Cyril was appointed bishop by Acacius, the metropolitan of Caesarea in Palestine. Sozomen and Socrates both say that Acacius and another bishop, Patrophilius from Scythopolis, had ejected Maximus from the see of Jerusalem and then appointed Cyril. Jerome, who is the most explicit source, holds that Acacius together with other Arian bishops promised the bishopric of Jerusalem to Cyril on the condition that he renounced his ordination as presbyter by Maximus. According to Jerome, the conflict was over theology: Maximus belonged to the Nicene party, while Acacius was Arian. Jerome indicates that Cyril got his appointment as bishop over Jerusalem by changing sides from the Nicene party to the Arian. This is probably the reason why Rufinus says Nicenethat Cyril was vacillating with regard to belief and allegiance. Cyril’s texts, however, reveal no Arian leanings. Jerome further states that Maximus, before he died, appointed another presbyter, Heraclius, as bishop, but that Cyril managed to convince him to renounce the appointment and continue as presbyter. A.J. Doval (2001, 13–22) discusses these sources and how they have been interpreted by previous researchers. He concludes that the most likely scenario is that Acacius appointed Cyril bishop because he misjudged his theological standpoint and took Cyril to be Arian. According to A.J. Doval’s interpretation, Cyril’s appointment was not in conflict with the interests of the Jerusalem congregation. Soon after, Cyril took his own standpoint in matters of theology and administration, standpoints that clashed with the wishes of Acacius (Yarnold, 2000, 4–5). Consequently, a conflict over theology as well as church administration broke out between Cyril and Acacius soon after his appointment as bishop. Now, Acacius found out that Cyril belonged to the Nicene party – the fraction that claimed that Christ was divine, but not consubstantial (homoousios) with the Father, but like (homoiousios) the Father in nature. Acacius also accused Cyril of having illegally sold church property in order to support poor members of the church during a famine. Acacius disposed of Cyril in 357 CE, and he went in exile in Tarsus until 359 CE, when the Council of Seleucia restored him to his see. However, in 360 CE Acacius managed to convince Emperor Constantius I that Cyril should be exiled, with the argument that Cyril had sold a vestment that Constantine the Great had given to the former bishop Macarius. Cyril was restored from this exile in 361 CE when Emperor Julian called all exiled bishops back to their sees. However, the conflict with the patriarchate in Caesarea continued. Acacius died around 365 CE, and Cyril interfered in the election of his successor and had his own brother, Gelasius, appointed. However, shortly after, Gelasius was dismissed and replaced with an Arian bishop, Euzoius. When Valens (sympathizing with the Arians) became emperor in 367 CE, he reintroduced Constantius I’s restrictions against the Nicene bishops, and Cyril was therefore exiled for a third time (Yarnold, 2000, 5–7; Drijvers, 2004, 31–63. A different interpretation of Cyril’s career as bishop in Jerusalem is found in Nuffelen, 2007. He claims that there was a continuous dispute about ecclesiastical power in Jerusalem in the 360s and 370s CE. Several bishops claimed power at the same time, and none of them were exiled. Thus, according to Nuffelen, Cyril was only exiled once, in the early stage of his career). This time, his exile lasted for 11 years until 378 CE, when a new emperor, Gratian, restored exiled bishops to their sees. After the third exile, Cyril remained bishop in Jerusalem until his death in 387 CE. In 381 CE, Cyril took part in the council in Constantinople as one of the leaders of the Nicene party. Cyril and Jerusalem Cyril was probably born and grew up in or near Jerusalem. This can be assumed because he seems to have been familiar with the city and its development many years before he became bishop in the city (e.g. he seems to know what the place where the later Church of the Holy Sepulchre was built looked like before the church was built (see Cyr.Jer. Catech. 14.5; 14.9; Yarnold, 2000, 3). During Cyril’s time, Jerusalem became an important place of pilgrimage, undoubtedly in part due to Cyril’s influence. Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helena, had previously claimed to have identified some of the holy sites where important incidents in Jesus’ life took place, such as Golgotha, the Holy Sepulcher, the Garden of Gethsemane, and so on. Churches had then been built at these spots and had become famous sites of pilgrimage in Cyril’s time. The importance of Jerusalem was, however, not yet fully recognized with respect to political, ecclesiastical, and theological power. Cyril was fighting for such recognition of his city and his bishopric. In this struggle, which is expressed in his letter to Emperor Constantius and in his catechetical and mystagogical lectures, Cyril stresses the importance of Jerusalem as a holy space. In his Letter to Constantius, which can be dated to 351 CE, Cyril mentions how Constantius’ father Constantine discovered the wood of Jesus’ cross in Jerusalem together with some of the holy places. In Cyril’s mind, this is a sign that Constantine was blessed by God. But obviously, the mention of this fact is also a way for Cyril to stress the importance of Jerusalem – the city of which he himself was bishop. In Jerusalem, one finds the most important places related to Jesus’ life, according to Cyril. But the reason why Cyril writes to the emperor is not only to bring these holy places into remembrance; it is to tell him that the importance of these discoveries had been confirmed by a great wonder in his own time. On May 7, 351 CE, a huge cross was visible in the sky above Jerusalem. This luminous cross in the sky stretched its arms from Golgotha to the Mount of Olives, thus connecting the two most holy places in Jerusalem – the place where Jesus died and rose again, and the place from which he ascended to heaven. This luminous cross was seen not only by Cyril himself, but by all citizens of Jerusalem, Christians as well as non-Christians. They all realized that it was a sign made by Christ, the wonderworker: They had the evidence of their own senses that the holy faith of Christians is not based on the persuasive arguments of philosophy but on the revelation of the spirit and power; it is not proclaimed by mere human beings but testified from heaven by God himself. (Cyr.Jer. Cons. 4) As stated by Cyril, Jesus the Christ, who worked wonders when he lived in Jerusalem, still works wonders in the city – thus confirming the spiritual importance of the city for Christians. As a result, Cyril and everyone else who saw the luminous cross have increased their worship of Christ and will continue to do so. Thus, Cyril is underlining the importance of Jerusalem as a place of worship – and thereby as a place of pilgrimage. Cyril also underlines the importance of Jerusalem in his catechetical and mystagogical lectures. These were presented to the catechumens in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (also known as the Church of Resurrection), which was built by Constantine on the presumed site of Golgotha. In his lectures, Cyril often hints at the importance of this and other places in Palestine and Jerusalem. For example, in Cyr.Jer. Catech. 10.19 he lists persons and places that bear witness to the salvatory work of Christ, such as the place of Jesus’ manger, the river Jordan, the lake of Tiberias, the holy wood of the cross (Catech. 4.10 and 13.4 also refer to Golgotha as evidence for the truth of Jesus’ crucifixion), the Gethsemane Garden, the Mount of Olives, and not least Golgotha and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (a similar list is presented in Catech. 14.22–23). Cyril’s catechumens are thus instructed to be aware of the holy places that surround them in their daily life in Jerusalem, also, and not least, when they receive the catechetical instructions in the Church of the Resurrection. These holy places evoke the memory of Christ’s work and actualize it at the same time. Thus to Cyril, Jerusalem is not the place of the killing of Jesus, but of the life of Jesus – a life that by memory and new wonders is made present and thus important for his community.
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